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Indonesia dumps beef import quotas: reports

More Australian cattle could soon be heading to Indonesia, with reports that country has removed its restrictions on beef imports. (file)

AAP: Dave Hunt

There are credible reports today that Indonesia will remove its annual quota restrictions for beef imports altogether, opening the door to increased trade with Australia.

The Australian Government is yet to confirm the reports, but global and Indonesian media are quoting that country's trade minister, Gita Wirjawan, as saying he's signed a "new ready-to-slaughter cattle regulation", which will "allow importers to import with no limits, to stabilise beef prices".

Indonesia will reportedly continue to monitor the trade, and adjust the volume and timing of beef imports in order to keep domestic beef prices within a range of 75,000-76,000 rupiah ($8.08 - $8.19AUD) per kilogram.

The average price of beef in Indonesia is currently 93,000 rupiah.

Indonesia slashed annual beef import quotas in 2012, ostensibly to encourage local production as the country strives for self-sufficiency.

But the Australian cattle industry said the Commonwealth Government was to blame for the restrictions, and that it had embarrassed Indonesia by temporarily suspending the live cattle trade in the wake of animal cruelty revelations in some abattoirs in that country.

Northern Australian graziers have been struggling since that decision, with reduced markets compounded by drought across many pastoral regions.

Graziers had welcomed an earlier decision that Indonesia would take an additional 25,000 live Australian cattle over the next three months, which was announced on Friday.